Mike Hoffman

The Panthers’ interim coach prefaced Sunday’s rumble with the Ottawa Senators being “as big a game as we’ve had all season long.”

Defenseman Michael Matheson said everyone in the bunched-up Atlantic Division is already in playoff mode with just over 20 games to go.

The playoffs will be a pipedream if the Panthers continue to misfire at the BB&T Center as they did in their fourth consecutive home loss (third since a five-game road sweep), 2-1 to conclude a split in the four-game season series with Ottawa.

The Panthers had the fighting spirit with Shawn Thornton engaging three different Senators in separate bouts, and Reilly Smith fought another. But they couldn’t...

Related "Mike Hoffman" Articles

The Panthers’ interim coach prefaced Sunday’s rumble with the Ottawa Senators being “as big a game as we’ve had all season long.”
Defenseman Michael Matheson said everyone in the bunched-up Atlantic Division is already in playoff mode with just over 20...

Florida Panthers newly anointed coach Tom Rowe said earlier Saturday that one reason for the coaching change was that he didn't feel some players, "were bringing it every night.''
Rowe might've felt the same way for the first seven minutes of the opening...

Mike Hoffman scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period to give the Ottawa Senators a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night and force a decisive Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Hoffman fired a slap shot through...

Mike Hoffman scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period to give the Ottawa Senators a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night and force a decisive Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Hoffman fired a slap shot...

Matt Murray was back — and so was Sidney Crosby.
Crosby had a goal and an assist, Murray made 22 saves in his first start of the playoffs and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Ottawa Senators 3-2 on Friday night to even the Eastern Conference finals at...

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 23 shots for his second shutout of the playoffs and the Pittsburgh Penguins evened their Eastern Conference final against Ottawa with a 1-0 victory in Game 2 on Monday night.
Phil Kessel beat Craig Anderson with a wrist...

In the hours before the last game of this Rangers season, Alain Vigneault did not think twice about expressing his team's most urgent need.
"We need Hank to be Hank," the Rangers coach said.
Vigneault didn't worry about piling weight on Henrik...

Erik Karlsson had a goal and an assist to help the Ottawa Senators advance to the Eastern Conference finals with a 4-2 victory over the New York Rangers in Game 6 of their second-round series Tuesday night.
Mike Hoffman and Mark Stone scored in the...

Kyle Turris scored 6:28 into overtime to lift the Ottawa Senators to 5-4 victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday for a 3-2 series lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Derick Brassard tied the score with 1:26 left in the third period...

Tyler Bozak scored 1:37 into overtime to cap Toronto's comeback from two goals down in the second period, and the Maple Leafs beat the Washington Capitals 4-3 Monday night to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round series.
Auston Matthews and Nazem Kadri...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defenseman Taylor Chorney broke a tie early in the third period with his first goal of the season and the Washington Capitals held on to beat the Ottawa Senators 2-1 on Sunday night.
Chorney's shot from the point beat goalie Mike Condon...

The Kings began their scheduled retreat to a mountain ski resort a bit early.
Their uncharacteristic defensive gaffes Monday too often left them in frequent retreat against the high-scoring Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre. The Kings' 5-3 loss...

The New York Rangers used Carl Hagelin's overtime goal and spectacular goaltending by Henrik Lundqvist for a 2-1 win over Pittsburgh on Friday night to advance in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Hagelin skated out from behind the net and put a wrist...

Kevin Hayes scored at 3:14 of overtime to give the New York Rangers a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night and a 3-1 edge in the Eastern Conference first-round series at Pittsburgh.
Game 5 will be in New York on Friday night.
In...